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The Baroness
The Baroness is a character from the GI Joe franchise, first appearing in the first issue of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic series by Marvel Comics in June, 1982. She is a villainess, associated with G.I. Joe's nemesis, Cobra. She serves as Cobra's intelligence officer and lieutenant to Cobra Commander. With long black hair, black-rimmed glasses, and a black leather outfit, Baroness is a dark, sensual femme fatale whose beauty is matched only by her ruthlessness. In both comic and cartoon incarnations, as well as the 2009 live-action movie for the series, she has romantic relationships with Destro. Although the character was not part of the initial G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero release in 1982, she did appear in G.I. Joe #1, published by Marvel Comics in June 1982 and was, in fact, the first character to cross over from the comics into the animated series and finally into the toy line. She made her debut as an action figure in the 1984 series, wearing a new uniform that was then carried back over to the comic and cartoon. Description General: Born Anastasia Cisarovna as the spoiled daughter of European aristocrats, the Baroness was first involved in student radicalism, dabbled in extremist fringe groups, and finally graduated to international terrorism. She is believed to have been trained as a spy and saboteur at an exclusive facility run by a former Warsaw Pact intelligence agency. Officially the head of Cobra intelligence operations, the Baroness is a world-class expert in cryptography, psychological warfare, and bio-chemical skin-irritants. She also has old ties and loyalties to Destro and is the only one who knows his secret identity. The Baroness has had extensive plastic surgery after suffering severe burns during a Cobra night-attack operation. She is full of contradictions: cynical yet romantic, calculating but naive, blunt and prone to beating around the bush. She is a qualified expert with an M-16, AK-47, RPG7, and Uzi, and as a H.I.S.S. tank operator, and her military specialties include helicopter and fixed-wing pilot. Marvel Comics: The Baroness first appeared in the Marvel Comics series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #1. She is instrumental in Cobra's first major offensive against G.I. Joe, Operation: Lady Doomsday. Posing as a reporter, Baroness abducts Dr. Adele Burkhart and brings her back to Cobra’s island fortress. Despite disguising herself as the Doctor, the Joes rescue the correct one and destroy the fortress. Baroness and Cobra Commander escape. When the Cobra Commander first contracts Destro to salvage a mission in Alaska, the Baroness reveals that she has a past association with the masked man, but declines to give details. Evading the G.I. Joe assault, the Baroness and Scar-Face escape in a plane, but the Baroness cannot pass up the opportunity to blow up the small island where Snake Eyes, Kwinn the Eskimo, and Dr. Venom are locked in battle. Just before the bombs hit, Kwinn pushes the other two into the island bunker. Baroness and Cobra Commander discover that Dr. Venom has left out a vital part of the toxin and the microdot points the Joes to the Springfield HQ. This was according to Destro's plan; Scar-Face is working for him. Destro had not realized the Baroness was with the Commander, and stages a successful diversionary mission. Cobra Commander's ally Major Bludd looks for a chance to kill Destro. This comes during a tank battle; Baroness sacrifices herself to save Destro. Bludd has a chance to free her, but flees leaving her to an explosion. Seemingly killed in the fight, the Baroness is in fact rescued after the battle, and brought to Bethesda Naval Hospital, where she lays severely burned and in a coma. When the Joe Grand Slam takes Major Bludd into custody, the Baroness is moved to G.I. Joe headquarters in Staten Island as well. Luring Cobra into attacking the base after they capture Scar-Face in Tripoli, Libya the Joes instigate a major skirmish at their own headquarters. During the battle, Major Bludd kills General Flagg. Taking the Baroness, he leaves Scar-Face for dead, and escapes in a Cobra F.A.N.G. Devil's Due: In "The Mission That Never Was", it is revealed that the core G.I. Joe members were sent on one final mission, which resulted in Cobra's Brainwave Scanner being corrupted by a virus that spread through the entirety of their mainframe. Crippled and defeated, Cobra then fell to a "unified military attack" (this attack is never detailed in a story, but hinted at in various "Battle Files" entries). A side effect of this confluence of events was the incapacitation of the Brainwave Scanner. Without repeated "self-medication" via the Scanner, the Baroness was freed from her artificial loyalty to Cobra. The two returned to Trans-Carpathia and retired from the intrigue and danger of Cobra, but continued to rebuild M.A.R.S. establishing an outpost in Scotland. When Destro took ill, and his illegitimate son Alexander took over M.A.R.S. and the Destro identity, Baroness was forced to go along with him to keep James safe. Remaining stoically resistant to Alex' plan, the Baroness berates him with unfavorable comparisons to his father. Keeping the Commander in Scotland, along with Snake Eyes and Scarlett, the Baroness is forced to watch Alexander's strategist Mistress Armada spill secrets to the enemy. When Alexander's plan inevitably fails, the Baroness rescue him and Armada, only to deliver them to a seething, but cured, James Destro for punishment. Various criminal factions, interested in learning all they can about Cobra Commander, capture the Baroness and Flint. The two are tied together and tortured. Baroness breaks free by using her glasses to cut the bonds and the two work together to escape. Destro and his Iron Grenadiers safely rescue her; as a parting 'gift', the Baroness kisses Flint right in front his love, Lady Jaye The Baroness works with Zandar in a plot to track down the Joe undercover officer, Chuckles, they kill four Joe "Greenshirts" agents in the process. When Cobra Commander is captured by Serpentor and his new faction, the Coil, Destro is summoned to lead Cobra in a rescue mission. When the Commander returns to Cobra, Destro takes the opportunity to leave for good. In a shocking twist, however, the Baroness does not join him. After an elaborate scheme is derailed by Duke, Destro is arrested. The Commander leaves it to the Baroness to decide Destro's fate, and she votes to let him rot. Put on trial by the U.N., Destro turns the tables and offers the guaranteed capture of Cobra Commander to assure his release. Taking his offer, the Joes are charged with transporting Destro by train, to lure Cobra into a trap. When both Cobra Commander and the Baroness arrive to free Destro, the Commander and Hawk throw down. Defeating his foe, the Commander shoots Hawk in the back, only to be shot by a traitorous Baroness. The ruse is successful, and the Commander is in U.S. custody, leaving Destro and his pregnant wife in control of Cobra. This period is short-lived, however, and the Commander soon returns to reclaim Cobra once and for all. During the coup, the Baroness and Wraith (charged with her personal safety) are seemingly killed when the Commander detonates the Night Raven they are aboard. America's Elite: The Baroness resurfaces, a year after the defeat of the Red Shadows, as a prisoner in the sub-basement of G.I. Joe's new headquarters, the Rock. Her existence is known to only a few, including General Joseph Colton, Duke, and Storm Shadow, who attempts to wrest information from her. But the Baroness is all-consumed by her desire for her baby, which she apparently carried to term, and has been separated from by the G.I. Joe team. Storm Shadow passed the information about the Baroness' imprisonment to Snake Eyes, thinking he was about to sacrifice himself to save the G.I. Joe team on Destro's sub. The news then travels to Stalker and Scarlett, who take it upon themselves to confront Colton about the heinous act just as the Phoenix Guard attack the Rock. In the middle of the battle, the Baroness' cell is opened, and she makes her way to the roof, where she confronts and thoroughly thrashes Zarana (who was posing as Phoenix Guard member Friday) before escaping the Joe base. The Baroness is the focal point of the follow-up story arc, "Sins of the Mother". Confronting Scalpel for his misdeeds, she tortures him with his own scalpel, and leaves him disfigured and near death. She then enlists the help of Major Bludd to enact revenge on G.I. Joe. Sending him to Saudi Arabia to distract the Joes, the Baroness then tracks down and kills Wraith herself. Taking his armor, she strikes a bargain with Red Shadows' leader Wilder Vaughn for the location of Cobra Commander. After dealing with Flint (who had been spying on the Shadows), the Baroness finally confronts Cobra Commander, only to be stopped by Destro himself. The Joes arrive, including Flint, and are forced to lay down arms. Repeating her actions after the Yakuza incident, Baroness kisses Flint, passing him something that enables him to free himself, and throwing the whole confrontation into upheaval. The situation is quelled, however, when Destro offers Cobra Commander control of M.A.R.S. in exchange for his infant son, Eugene. When "World War III" begins, Storm Shadow tracks Destro and the Baroness to Japan where Destro agrees to help G.I. Joe fight Cobra Commander. Appalled that her husband would help "the enemy," Destro turns to her and tells her that it is only a matter of time before Cobra Commander betrays and comes after them. He is right as Cobra Commander has freed Dela Eden from prison and orders her to kill the steel-faced arms dealer and his wife. Storm Shadow then takes the couple to visit the G.I. Joe team in hiding where Destro informs Colonel Colton that he will need a piece of MARS technology to help G.I. Joe defeat it. In an uncomfortable moment, the Baroness turns to Scarlett and asks the red-head if her head still hurts. After Barrel Roll and Recondo, who have both managed to infiltrate Cobra and steal a stealth-cloaked Night Raven, the Baroness travels to England where her husband helps re-engineer the Cobra technology that makes the Night Raven practically invincible. The Baroness then gathers her own army, code named—ATHENA FORCE—and fights Alexander Destro's Iron Grenadiers in London where they all surrender when they see Destro at the head of his wife's army. After World War III ends, the Baroness lives in humility as she hugs her son and watches Destro on trial for his crimes against humanity. Literature Of the Cobra members (Cobra Commander, herself, Destro and Dr. Mindbender), the Baroness is the only prominent member that the wiki founder uses in literature; while the character herself is obviously not used in Lady of Destiny, the wiki founder uses the Baroness as the basis for a member of the Council of Hallow in the form of Baroness Imyne and bonus points go for the fact that the Council of Hallow is partially based on Cobra in Nokoriz. However, despite the wiki founder basing Imyne on the Baroness, her glasses are taken away because of the wiki founder's belief that thin rimmed glasses, or just glasses in general, does not work with the femme fetale image that the Baroness was designed with as well as the wiki founder's dislike of glasses. Along with Hela used as the basis for Ruvia, she is also one of two characters to have a feature taken away for design reasons, though in the case of Hela, the wiki founder takes away her headgear because of impracticality. Category:Characters Category:Females Category:Canon